We're very confident. We started a

little bit behind our competitors.

Adrian only joined us in March. We

didn't get our first wind tunnel car

into the wind tunnel until uh April. So

slightly behind our competitors. I

believe we're in their tunnels in

January. Um we have a lot of new a lot

of new partner with Honda, a new power

unit. We have a new gearbox we're making

for the first time. We uh we we have new

sustainable fuels with our fantastic

partner Ramco and Valvalene for our

lubes in our engine and our gearbox. So

there's a lot of new uh first time in 75

year Formula 1 history that they're

change the chassis and the power unit

simultaneously. So it'll be very

exciting no doubt and uh be a lot to

learn in the coming first coming races.

What would be um what would be a win for

you or what would be success for you in

terms of placement this season? What do

you what do you expect to get?

>> Um I we don't really go in with

expectations. We're going to try our

best, do the best we can. I'm quite

confident with the team we've put

together and the partners I've just

mentioned that we'll do a great job. You

know, this set of rules is here with us

for five years. So, it's not about the

first race or two. It's it's it's about

the next five years. Um, again extremely

confident we have the right people, we

have the right tools, we have the right

processes, we have the right partners.

So I'm very confident for extremely

confident for our future. We have seen

reporting that Mercedes and Red Bull

have found some kind of edge with v

variable engine compression. It's all

very technical. Um, some have accused

them of cheating like animals, I think

was a was a quote I heard. Others have

defended them. Christian her came at

their defense. What do you think about

um people looking for an edge in the

rules ahead of the ahead of the season?

>> Listen, you're always looking for an

edge in the rules and you're always

looking to find loopholes. That's part

of Formula 1. Um I'm not a technical

power unit guru to really give an

opinion on exactly what they've done,

but I will leave it to those who are in

the know. Obviously, there's a lot of

talk going on between the various power

unit teams and the FIA to check the

legality of what they've done.

>> How about uh your confidence in Adrien

Nui? Obviously, um everyone's very

excited to see what he can do with your

team and other teams have uh looked with

a little bit of wonder and awe at the

suspension, for example, that he's been

able uh to create. What do you think are

are your biggest advantages with him?

>> You said it. It's having him. He is the

goat. He is a unicorn. Um, nobody has a

track record like he's had since his

times in Formula 1, winning 25 world

championships. He is unique. There's one

Adrian and I am very blessed that he's

my partner and with our team. Now,

>> I was uh lucky enough to speak with

George Kern last week uh CEO of

Brightling and you now have a new

partnership with them. What do they

bring to the team beyond, you know, the

brand?

>> Well, Formula 1's all about time. It's

it's about the the stopwatch. It's about

the clock. So, one of the important

partners is is obviously a timekeeper

and you know there there there's a

fashion aspect around Formula 1 of the

way people dress of attitudes and I

think Brightling captures the time

component with their historic with their

history um with their great time pieces.

You know, they have a history also in in

aviation. So, I think it's very

appropriate to to these two great brands

to be together.

>> By the way, a little bit of a curveball

here, Lawrence, because yesterday was

the Super Bowl and the Seattle Seahawks

were victorious. They're not too far

away from Canada and there are reports

that that team may be for sale. Would

you ever consider going into another

league, going into another sport beyond

the track?

>> Uh, no. I have my plate full right now.

I'm uh I'm absolutely thrilled with what

I'm doing. And sadly, you just spoiled

it for me cuz I was planning to go back

to my hotel tonight and watch a replay

of the game cuz I was trying not to know

who had won. So, I made it this far.

>> Um, okay. I apologize. That's awful.

Although, you know, it was the Super

Bowl. So,

>> that's okay.

>> Um, in terms of the F1,

>> in terms of the F1 team that that you

own, I mean, valuations have been

amazing. There are reports now that

maybe Al Alpine is uh looking to sell a

stake and I wonder if you would be

interested in selling any of your stake

or your team at this point because it's

worth so much.

>> Yeah. No, I'm I'm very satisfied with my

shareholding. We're not looking to uh to

to sell any shares. We're looking to

grow the business and to do great in the

sport.

>> Let's talk about the car business. I've

been lucky enough to have seat time in

the in the Vanquish as well as uh the

Vantage and the and the DBX. They're

they're amazing cars and I have to say

that um a huge alternative to Ferrari is

what you offer and something that has

more beauty than sort of the kind of

technical prowess that the Italians have

uh leaned into. Um what do you think the

market is getting wrong about Aston

Martin the business? I think it's just a

question of time. Um, not many people

learned about the DBX. They're actually

finding out about it now. They were not

familiar that we even made an SUV cuz we

don't historically uh make a product

like that. It's it's actually doing

extremely well at the moment. The

Vanquish, as you say, is on fire. We

have a fantastic order book for that as

well as DB12 and as well as Vantage. So

for us it's now a matter of sticking

with our portfolio, growing our demand,

getting our dealers in place. The

dealers weren't used of also having such

a diverse product offering from the

company, particularly with the launch of

Valhalla. So you know, not so difference

in Formula 1. Everything takes time.

I've been in the road car business a

similar amount of time as I've been in

the Formula 1 team. And it's also a

10-year journey. So, we're we're we're

quite pleased w with where we are and

we're quite pleased with the portfolio

that exists and very excited about the

portfolio that'll be coming in the years

to come. I'd say I drove the DBX through

our snowstorm in New York last week and

it functioned perfectly. Um I wouldn't

wouldn't want to change a thing there.

With the Vantage, I might like to add an

extra pedal. And I wonder if you've

thought about leaning into the analog

side of things. Aston Martin has always

uh represented like a mechanical

intimacy whereas Ferrari seems to be

leaning into sort of technical and

computational excellence. Do you think

that would be a good analog? Well, we we

introduced two manual specials. So, we

already have um two five-speeds that

we've introduced in the last 3 years to

great demand. So we believe that as you

call the analog is still very relative

for today's particularly Aston Martin

customers. So, you don't think there's

any room for a a manual vantage um at

your dealerships? Because it does seem

like when I look through the, you know,

the the auctions and um the used car

listings, they command a huge premium,

sometimes 100% premium for a manual car

over an automatic.

>> Yeah, that's probably true. No, that

that's not planned for our lineup at the

moment.